Well TECHNICALLY I'm not a maiden, but it was a gig with a paycheck and all: This old widow lady had her first experience of singing AND playing in public as an official performer. Where I've gotten munificent remuneration of $3, $5, or sometimes $8 for playing for a dance, this was a new experience entire, with a group of guys who let me join their band this fall, so this was my maiden gig in a group.

I've so envied younger folks who just up and DO this, respected many friends who are professional musicians doing it for years, while harboring in my heart a desire to be a part of a group that performs in public. Song circles, open mics, singing in church, have all been richly enjoyable experiences that will continue to enhance my life, but the working out of songs, stretching musical muscles, challenging myself has become every bit as hard and fun and complex as I'd hoped.

The band lead singer is the youngest of us, and weirdly, comes not from the folk world, but Rock and Heavy Metal, but got inspired by Clancy & Makem and the craic of the sorts of concerts they did. ("Liam Clancy's guitar work was just so percussive...") The rest of us are middle aged to older folkies, but all we were doing today was playing traditional Christmas carols & songs, both inside and out (43° but clear) for a weekend celebration at an historic village. My heavy duty autoharp stayed in tune through the first set, waffled by the second location, after which I just stayed with the concertina.

That last is as much brag as statement. Not only was I able to play AND sing at the same time with the Concertina, I had been working on the music enough that I could play melody lines & some chords on all of them. This is a BIG deal for me, though paper trained, some I did by ear. I find it extraordinary how much my playing has improved from playing with these guys (singer, guitar player, hammer dulcimer/recorder)Our fearless leader says "It's supposed to be FUN!" and has a great rapport with audiences, tries to get them involved and sing along (it's how I met the guys in the first place,this summer, singing along on every song they did in a 90 min set) His energy is contagious, and I'm grinning all over, even while glad to be inside.

Those who have been doing this for years, I hope you won't laugh at my enthusing here, but the rush of doing this at 61 instead of 20 is still a rush! Cathy Barton, Caroline Paton, Margaret Nelson, and all the other first class folkie friends who've guided & encouraged me over the years can get some of the credit for that rush; wish I could adequately say how grateful I am.

Joanne, thawing out in Cleveland